Licensing classic movies for international viewing?

[TheViking]

I choose to ask here, since you people have always seemed like a very competend crowd.

I can't find this question answered on the forum, so here goes:

How much would it cost (per movie) to obtain (copy)rights for distributing downloadable versions of classic movies?

Is it at all possible?

Who own these rights?

I was figuring the "movie industry" is having a hard time making newer movies available to all people conveniently, but how about old classics like "Gone With the Wind" and it's like (discontinued by the manufacturer, which is ridiculous)? That should be possible. There's surely a good demand for this, as long as people can choose their download options and the price is right. I, for one, would gladly pay $n (n < DVD price) for this.

But before I hassle my brain cells any more with this matter, I'd like to know if it's at all feasible.

[guns1inger]

Movies in the public domain = $0

Movies not in the public domain would most likely be on a per download basis after an upfront establishment fee of some kind. Note : you would be competing with the likes of Netflix, would need to invest a large sum in getting such a system up and running, and would most likely be coerced into including some form of DRM to protect the studio's investment (made back in 1943, but apparently still losing money on every download)

[drjtech]

old classics like "Gone With the Wind" and it's like (discontinued by the manufacturer, which is ridiculous)?

I think you misinterpreted the Amazon page you linked to. Gone with the Wind has not been discontinued - Warner Brothers simply does not manufacture the old DVD versions any longer. In part this is to build a market for the upcoming 70th anniversary DVD and Blu-ray releases. Not even Netflix can afford to license Gone with the Wind for viewing online.

-drjtech

[jman98]

1) Since your profile doesn't list your home country, it depends on whether you are talking public domain films or not. In the USA, there's not a lot of public domain stuff to choose from and what is in the public domain is basically already available at http://www.archive.org for streaming already. If you are talking about the UK, anything over 50 years is now in the public domain. It varies in other countries. The per movie cost for non-public domain films could be anything from say $5 per movie to perhaps a blanket payment in the millions and a per movie charge on top of that.
2) Is it possible? Probably not. Many studios fear online viewing and would force you to use onerous DRM if you were even able to work out a deal. Consider that some old TV shows can't even get clearance to come out on home video in the USA because of music licensing issues. This should give you some idea of stubborn companies can be to work with in the entertainment industry. Sometimes if a company can't get 100% of the pie, they will decide that they'd rather have no pie at all. As they say in Hollywood - money talks, b.s. walks. To pull this off you'd have to convince companies that you can provide a big revenue stream that they otherwise can't get.
3) Rights to films are owned by various studios who have various opinions about the feasibility of online distribution. You could look at Netflix site as they offer streaming for some movies. Look at a variety of what you consider to be classic films and see how many can and can't be viewed online via Netflix to have an idea of what you're up against. Believe me, if Netflix can't get permission from studio X to stream their movies, you're not going to be able to get it either.

I'm not trying to insult you, but this is one of those things that if you have to ask strangers on a video forum about it, you're not going to be able to do it.

[TheViking]

Ok. I was afraid of that.
My idea was to make classics downloadable for handheld devices (PSP, iPhone and PMPs). The process of making them myself can be tedious so I figured others as well would be willing to pay a small amount to download them off a nice webshop.
(Rather than buying the DVD, ripping, transcoding, putting the DVD back on the shelf forever, I'd much prefer to buy the finished PSP-ready film from a good website)

Please forgive the stupid question. Or rather, should I say; It was a viable question, but the answer is stupid.

Thanks for the answers, guys.